Tales of the City

By: Armistead Maupin

Narrated by: Armistead Maupin

Inspiration for the Netflix Limited Series, Tales of the City
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

The first novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin's best-selling San Francisco saga.

For almost four decades Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed its own trail through popular culture - from a groundbreaking newspaper serial to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world. The first of nine novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

Don't miss more from Armistead Maupin.©2000 Literary Bent LLC (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Maupin, with all his elegance and charm, has found a place among the classics." (The Observer)

I guess that time is gone, now

I lived in San Francisco at the end of the time when this novel was serialized in The Chronicle newspaper. I remember reading it with some puzzlement at first, and later with a sense of enjoyment. I had an apartment that looked into Trader Vic's parking lot, and I would spend Friday evenings sitting on the fire escape watching the comings and goings: Tales of the City reminds me of those moments. However, absent that social scene, that society, that oddly innocent moment, I'm not sure the stories really stand up well today. At times it seems almost elegiac, which was not the original intent. Something unfortunate seems to have happened to the dreams, the beliefs, the energy we had back then, which is not the novel's fault, yet it somehow affects how one thinks of it today. The narration is all right, not affected by overdone "voices", but it isn't wonderful either.

Captures an Era

Love the portrayal of the times, the great characters, and the serendipity. Maupin has an eye for contemporary society and its quirks.

Brings me back to the City

What I love most about this story is all the real reference to the City I love the most. I grew up in the Bay Area and was the first in 6 generations to move out of the state. The characters are interesting and the references bring me back home.
What I didn't like was the quick movement from one plot to the next. Not sure if this is because it was originally done as a newspaper story or if it is the way it was edited for Audible. I find that I am often going back just to make sure I that I did not miss something by not paying attention.

I am still enjoying the story.

A Special Place, A Special Time, Great Stories

Any additional comments?

I have read the entire series as books multiple times. These are pretty much the only books I've read more than once. I feel like I know the characters, and I just love the stories. It's a vignette of gentle stories about the lives of a set of interesting characters, and how those lives intersect, even in a large city like San Francisco. Now, when doing yard work, I love listening to them as audio books. If you want something that's fun, interesting, and quirky....this is the book (this is the series) for you. I can't say enough good about my friends at Barbary Lane.

too continuous

Good listen but there are no indications to where one book ends and another starts. I understand that they are continuous but it would still be good to know if this is Tales of the City or More Tales of the City...

The perfect trashy read

I think this book is a wonderful trashy distracting read for anyone who think they could enjoy a fabulously dated but yet still timeless soap opera of wayward queers and their friends in SF. This book got me through a couple thousand miles of really boring driving. Get it... their good washing the dishes or driving real far or taking a nice long bath alone stories.

The Best

Even after all these years and multiple hearings I still love it. It’s in my favorites.

A collection of forever favorites

Such an amazing collection of stories of the characters and scenes that will make anyone from the Bay area yearn for a visit back - one of the only books I've read to tackle the Aids epidemic with taste and humor too

this is an abridged version

love the books. This hits highlighta but omits much of the charm of the unabridged version. I'm disappointed

So Much Fun

My friend and I have been listening to this one off and on for some time as we travel. It is a blast and holds your interest. Sometimes there are long intervals between opportunites to listen, but it is easy to pick up where you left it. Maupin's characters are great.